1 Voting is an important privilege protected by our Constitution. Today, all citizens over the age of eighteen are given this right. But, it hasn't always been this way. Many people fought long and hard to win the right to vote.2 When the Constitution was written, the subject of who could vote was not covered. This left the decision up to the states. At first, only wealthy white men who owned property and were over the age of twenty-one were allowed to vote. As time went on, laws were passed to give all white men over twenty-one the right to vote. Most of these laws prohibited women and blacks from voting. This meant that these groups were without a say in who governed them.3 In the early 1800s, women began to speak out about political issues, such as slavery and alcohol. Yet without the right to vote, they felt stifled in their work. A movement to give women equal rights began with the primary focus of obtaining the right to vote. Women who participated in this action were called "suffragettes." They held rallies, conventions, protests, and even hunger strikes. When the Wyoming Territory granted women the right to vote, it added fuel to the fire of the movement. The first proposed law to give women this right was introduced to Congress in 1877. It gained little support, and the battle continued.